448 karma · joined March 3, 2017
I almost went there but chose not to.
Buying a Jeep soon and will be working remotely while roaming North America in 2018. Hobbies include: photography, writing, painting, hiking, design, animal rescue.
Twitter is mostly noise, little signal. Social media in general is to be honest. I get a little value from each of the major platforms. Reddit and Instagram are my two favorites.
What were your initial expenses?
I've grappled with this for the last 7 years. I wanted to build a platform to address this problem but I eventually realized self-interest is the strongest force in the world and that most people are not ready to consider that they may be part of the problem AND own up to it enough to change their day-to-day lifestyle. It's much easier to point a finger at world leaders, corporations, or the developing world's use of coal.
I've finally let go of eating meat. I don't buy things unless I need them and I use them until they are no longer usable. My hobbies are exploring the outdoors, improving my fitness/meditation routine each day, and creating brands, experiences, and campaigns.
I am saving money for a cabin in the Rockies and a camper van to explore all of North America. I am building an agency to work remotely and accept clients that I feel I can help in a substantial way. I've given my ambitions of 'saving the world' or being a part of the world of SV or NYC.
Every now and then, I indulge in some ice cream or some sushi. Slow progress is better than no progress. I know I am better off without alcohol, weed, or tobacco though.
I'm really passionate about exploring the outdoors, photography (landscape and wildlife), writing about self-actualization, learning about history (reading '1491' right now).
I've been helping two people I know with building a business online, one is a dog clothing company and the other is a film composer from NYU. I hope to scale this into an agency where I can work remotely while helping interesting people becoming financially independent doing what they love. It adds fulfillment to my life knowing I have skills to help them.
This thread has helped me so much, I don't even know how to thank the community. :)
The biggest things I'm seeing in this thread is I should make meditation a stronger habit, it will help me focus on the task at hand and not let my mind take me out of 'beginner's mind', the state of mind where learning/building are most effective.
This thread is full of so much applicable wisdom.
I'm getting more into Zen Buddhism at the moment and 'beginner's mind' is the closest state of mind to enlightenment. Experts often struggle the most because of the weight of their ego.
I like to be the dumbest person in the room, I force myself into situations where my ego is starved so I can grow from the inside and learn at a deeper level. I'm currently learning Framer and React hoping to reapply to YC in the fall, I got rejected for Summer 2017.
Thanks a lot, this thread is something I'll refer to a lot. I want to respond to every reply but I just can't because of 'you're commenting too fast. slow down!' You're right about HN being the most helpful place for me. It's amazing how supportive this community is to anyone who is sincere.
this is exactly why I spend more time on HN than reddit, I feel like the dumbest person in this room :)
I should put a LOT less pressure on myself and just focus on the process. Reading through this thread tells me I need to adjust some of my underlying beliefs about intrinsic/extrinsic motivation.
I guess I should lower my standards a little and just allow myself to look a little foolish just to keep progressing. I'm not Mark Zuckerberg, there is nothing wrong with that.
I like to always remind myself 'in the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few'.
I used to want so much more than I do today. I'm happy with a camper van, a small cabin, and seeing my family a few times a year.
I'm trying to mold myself from the wisdom of this community little by little. I just want to build something of value, that makes life more fulfilling for the people who use my platform. I try not to talk about it unless the conversation drifts towards 'what are you working on?'. At that point, I mention what it is in bare bones terms and that's it.
Also I've learned that people react differently based on their feelings about themselves. Talking to people who are happy with themselves, they like to hear more and we go back and forth. Other times, people change the subject to sports or weather.
I've thought about it some and the only real thing to do is 'show HN'...go from something I'm working on to a viable company. Done.
I just asked here to learn from the community for future reference.
Today I was around a group of people who play this game called 'dick swinging', where they try to prove to the others how much better they are than the others while the others act like they don't notice while they think of a way 'get the high score'.
I'm not good at games like that. I just like to talk about science, tech, music, economics, food, etc.